My Own Hell
by The Traveler's Tale
Summary: Jaune didn't know where he was. In fact, he didn't even know WHO he was. All that he knew was he had a suit, a knife, and a grotesque mask to keep himself from being poisoned by toxic chemicals in the air. And what the heck are the Demented?
1. The Usual Questions

**The Usual Questions**

Everything was distorted, I knew that much.

I tried to open my eyes, but screwed them back shut when I was met with what felt like searing light drilling into my retinas. Holy shit, that hurts. I try to bring up my hand to cover them, but it's stopped by something bound to my wrist. Am I restrained? What for? Where the hell am I?

" _Finally awake I see._ "

The source of the voice comes from my right. I slowly open my eyes again and am glad to see that it doesn't hurt as much as the first time. I see double images, but can make out what looks like a brown duffel coat and some green light over a black head.

" _You're probably experiencing a feeling of lightheadedness. Don't be too concerned, that will go away in a moment_." The figure turned and walked over to what looked like a nearby tray. It picked something up off of it and walked back over to me before I felt a pinch on the back of my hand. Next thing I knew, the images began to clear up. Lifting my head up, I was able to closely study the figure.

There wasn't very much to notice. He wore a brown duffel coat with the left sleeve folded halfway, probably missing the lower half of his arm. I say _him_ , due to him wearing what looks like a ski mask on his head with green optics over one eye with the other covered up. On his only hand he wore a black latex glove, which currently held a gray syringe.

Looking past the man, I saw that we were currently in some sort of dirtied autopsy room with brown stains on the gray walls as well as some human anatomy posters peeling and yellowing with age. The only other thing was a rusted wrought iron door with a large bolt through it and a large cupboard right across from me. Looking down, I saw I was strapped to an operating table that was raised up vertically. I tried to keep my attention off of the dried blood stains on it. My attention was drawn back to the man as he stepped in front of me.

" _Feeling better now?_ " He asked me with his one arm folded behind his back. I don't know, am I?

"W-what… What happened?" I croak out. Damn, my throat is dry, "Where am I?"

" _I'm afraid that both of those questions are irrelevant at the moment."_ He told me as he brought his arm back around and seemed to be checking a watch on his wrist.

He shook his head from side to side and _tisked_ under his mask. What did he mean by irrelevant?

" _I have to apologize, but I don't have very much time to explain. You took quite a bit longer than most to wake up after the surgery._ "

Surgery? Why would I need a surgery? Did something happen to me?

" _Im sure that many questions are running through your head at the moment. let me ask you something, though. Can you tell me your name?_ "

My name? Why that's easy, my name is…

Is… Shit, I can't remember my own name! What is it? How can I not remember my own name?

"I… Don't know." I tell him. He nods, almost as if that's what he wanted to hear.

" _Well, Don't worry. Luckily for you, I do. Your name is Kud._ " He then turned and walked over to the large cupboard and undid a bolt over the doors. My name was Kud? I don't remember anything else that would say otherwise… Actually , I don't remember anything at all. " _We have one thing to decide before I can turn you loose, however._ " He then threw the doors open, revealing what was inside.

Needless to say, it wasn't what one would normally find in a cupboard.

Lined up in three different rows with a dozen on each row were _masks_. Deformed, horrendous masks that would give small children nightmares. There was one with bloody hands over it's eyes, another with barbed wire wrapped around it, a gas mask with an iron sheet over the mouthpiece, and many more.

" _You're going to need one of these in order to survive here. And seeing as how you'll need it on at all times, I would advise picking one you like._ " The man told me. He went back to his little tray full of medical equipment, and I couldn't help but notice the bloody knives and saws scattered about it.

Did he use those on me? Was that my blood?

It doesn't matter. This guy told me to pick a mask. And seeing as how I'm strapped down to a table and he has sharp knives, I most likely don't want to piss this guy off. So, I go back to scanning over the masks.

I take in all of the details on the masks, every scar, every laceration, every burn. This things look like something out of a mental patient's nightmare, and I'm supposed to pick one? Shit… Let's see…

As I continue to scan over them, one catches my eye. I don't know why, but it does. It has leathery brown and muck green skin, scars with stitches in them crisscrossing all over it, with it's mouth stitched over into a permanent frown and a very stern expression. It has a couple of mangy dark brown dreadlocks poking out of it's head and flowing down to what would look like the upper chest area if worn. It looks terrifying, it looks angered… And it looks like the One for me. The doctor seems to notice me staring intently at it, cause he walks over to it and lifts it off of it's peg before walking over to me while inspecting it.

" _Not a bad choice, Kud._ " He says my name again.

Kud? Does that mean something? He then holds the mask up to my face, a hole big enough for my head to fit through facing me. " _Lean your head forward, I need to put this on._ "

Again, I do as he says and lean my head so it's easier for him to apply the mask. Fitting it around my head, He makes sure it's snug before stepping back and admiring his handiwork. He then pulled something out of his coat's pocket, something that looked like a stapler. Wait, a stapler?

" _Hold still please."_ He asked me before taking it and pressing it against the edge of the mask on my neck. " _This is going hurt for a second."_

Pressing down, I felt metal bite down through the mask and _Into my neck_. And yeah, it hurt a bit. But, I held my tongue and waited until he was done. He pulled back and walked over to the tray before picking up a small remote and pressing a button. Next thing I knew, I was falling forward. I barely managed to keep myself from landing on my face and instead landed on my knees and elbows. that was when I noticed I was wearing a black business suit with a red tie and dress shoes. It didn't look like it was stained in any sort of way, so this must have been put on after whatever happened to me did. The only thing not fitting was the black leather gloves on my hands. Was I going somewhere formal? If so, why was I wearing gloves?

More questions that I don't know the answers to. Instead, I stand up and flex my fingers before feeling my new mask bolted onto my head. Surprisingly, I can see clearly through it's eyeholes, even though they're covered by some sort of material. Almost like it wasn't even there. I'm interrupted from my inspection by a tapping on my shoulder and turn to see the man with something in his hand.

" _Sense you behaved so well, You get a little gift._ " He said. that was when he held up his hand and offered me a knife. And damn, it sure was one good looking knife.

It was probably about eight inches long and two and a half inches wide. It seemed as thick as a regular knife would be, but the metal… The metal didn't look like something that would normally be used to make knifes. it look like it was… _evil._ But then again, everything in this room had that look to it. It was fairly light too, so this was a pretty decent weapon at least. What I'm wondering though, why is he giving me this?

" _What do I need this for?_ " I ask the man, my voice being distorted now by what felt like some sort of filter at the mouth of my mask. Should I be angry at this man? Confused? I feel like I'm not reacting right. How would someone normally react? Not this calmly, I believe.

" _Oh trust me, you'll find out soon enough._ " The man patted me on the shoulder as I looked at the knife some more. He then began to lead me over to the rusted iron door. He started to pull back the bolt on it, but it got jammed. he tugged on it a bit, but it still wouldn't budge. he sighed before hanging his head in dejection. " _Well, this is embarrassing._ "

I step forward while simultaneously tucking the knife into the waistband of my pants. " _Allow me._ "

He looked at me for a second before stepping back. " _Thank you. I'll be right back._ " He walked out of my sight to what i'm guessing was one of the cupboards. I cracked my knuckles before grabbing onto the latch and pulling back with all of my strength. It didn't go at first, but it slowly began to slide backwards until it unlatched entirely. I heard the doctor walk up behind me and turned to see he now had a sheath in his hand, outstretched towards me.

" _Congratulations, you're efforts are rewarded._ " He said as I took the sheath from his hand and began attaching it to my belt. " _And since you have been so helpful, here's a tip: Avoid the darker places. The Demented tend to dwell there more._ "

I have the sheath fixed on, but look up mid way through putting the knife in. " _Demented?"_

" _You'll see soon enough. good luck out there, Kud._ " He told me as he walked around me and pulled the door open. I looked through to see a long hallway similar to the room we were in, but with papers scattered all along the floor and bloodstains on the walls, some looking more fresh than others. I step into the hallway, and hear the man say one more thing before he closes the door behind me.

" _You're going to need it._ "

* * *

Man, today's looking up to be a good day. After all, Goodwitch let us out early, plus it was friday! That left a whole weekend to us with no homework, no worries, and just time to relax!

"So, what do we have in store for the rest of the day?" My partner, Weiss, asked me as she filed her nails as we walked down the hallway. I don't really know why she does that all the time, but eh, that's her deal. I shrug.

"I don't know. Maybe we could go into the city and walk around?" I proposed. We'd have to run the idea through Yang and Blake, but i don't think they'll mind. Besides, it could be a fun team activity. "Maybe we could get Jaune and the rest of JNPR to come with us?"

Weiss rolled her eyes as she pocketed the nail file. She's probably still a little annoyed at Jaune for always flirting with her, but at least she puts up with him. Poor Jaune, he just doesn't see it.

"Excuse me, Ruby?" I hear a voice from behind us, and turn to see Pyrrha jogging up to us. She looks a little worried.

"Hey Pyrrha. What's up?" I ask her.

"Have either of you two seen Jaune?"


	2. So that's what that was

**So** _ **that's**_ **what that was.**

 **Küd:**

I hear the door's latch get slid into place from behind the door before everything goes silent. Turning around and facing the long corridor, I scan slowly left to right, looking for anything that may stick out. Got to look out for those… What did he call them, The Demented?

" _Avoid the darker places. The Demented tend to dwell there more._ "

So stay in the light… Sounds fine to me.

This place looks pretty decently lite up at least, so hopefully I won't run into anything right now. First, let's see what's around that could be of use. There's a couple of rooms, probably three on each side of the hall. I decide to walk over to the closest one with it's door open and peek inside.

The room looks just as creepy and dark as the hallway, one flickering lightbulb on the ceiling lighting up what looks like some sort of office, a few filing cabinets scattered here and there with their contents spilled over the room. Walking inside, I close the door behind me quietly and walk over to the desk before going over the papers on top. From what I can see, they look like nothing more than some taxes and business reports. I then open up a drawer under it and start going through it, finding nothing but pens and paper. Useless.

I repeat the process with the other five rooms, finding nothing of importance in any of them. I walk out of the final one and close it's door behind me. That was a waste of time.

So what's the whole point of this? Do I just wander around or something? I really hope that it's not just going to be checking rooms and hide from these Demented things.

I turn the corner and am met with a sliding iron bar door. It looks a lot like one that would be used in a...Prison… Shit, is _that_ what this place is?

That doesn't matter now. Right now, I just need to focus on getting past this. Maybe there's a switch or something I could use to open it.

Looking for said switch, I spot a window on the wall nearby. Getting close and looking through it, I see what looks like a control room inside with monitors and, lo and behold, the controls to what looks like a door. The entrance, however, looks to be in another hallway. Now let's just go look for that.

New objective: Find that damn door.

* * *

 **Ruby**

"I haven't. I thought he was with you?" I answer her. Jaune was with his team when classes ended, where did he go?

Pyrrha just shakes her head. "He said he had to go to the restroom very quickly, but that was half an hour ago. Ren and Nora are out looking for him too."

"Are you sure he didn't get stuck in the toilet?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow. We both gave Weiss a look telling her it wasn't funny.

"Weiss, Jaune wouldn't do that." I tell her. At least, _I think_ he wouldn't do that. There was that time he got stuck in the doorway because his shield opened up… But then again, that was Cardin's fault, the big stupid jerk.

"Can you two please help us look for him? We'd really appreciate the help." Pyrrha asked us. She really did worry about him sometimes, didn't she? I look over pleadingly at Weiss, but get a bit surprised when I see she actually looks a bit concerned.

"Pyrrha, you don't have to ask, of course we'll help." Weiss's face softened a bit. "Ruby, one of us should go get Blake and Yang."

I just nod in agreement. "Here, let me grab my scro-"

I was interrupted by the speakers crackling to life before what sounded like Glynda Goodwitch began to speak. " _Teams RWBY and JNPR please report to Headmaster Ozpin's office. Teams RWBY and JNPR, please report to the Headmaster's office. Thank you._ " And with that, it shuts off. We all share a look before I shrug.

"Maybe that'll get him there?" I suggest. "If he's on school grounds, he will have heard that." At least now I don't have to get Yang and Blake.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Weiss asked before turning and walking to the headmaster's office. "Let's go."

The three of us made our way over to the large clock tower that was the home to Ozpin's office. Once we walked in, we saw the rest of our respective teams waiting for us, Blake and Yang looking clueless while Ren and Nora looked a bit concerned in front of the clock-themed desk. What really stood out, though, was Ozpin. Normally he looked calm, like nothing ever really bothered him, but now he looked concerned.

"You wanted to see us, Headmaster?" Weiss was the first to speak. The whole room felt like one big ball of unsettling, like some really bad news was about to be let out. And Jaune still hadn't arrived yet.

"I am going to ask you all this once, and I want you all to be completely honest with me." Ozpin began, looking at at all of us with a _very_ serious expression, "Do any of you know if Mister Arc has any sort of enemies?"

…

What? Did he just say _enemies_?

"Headmaster, I'm confused." Ren spoke.

Oh thank Oum, I thought I was the only one for a second there.

"What do you mean by that?"

Ozpin seemed reluctant to answer. Why, though? Why would he ask if Jaune had any enemies? What does that have to do with this? Instead of verbally answering, Ozpin pulled out his scroll and tapped on a few buttons before a holographic screen popped up over his desk, facing us so we could see.

It looked like security footage of an empty hallway here in school. At least, it was, until Jaune rounded a corner and started to walk down it. Dressed in his academy uniform, he looked left and right until he spotted the bathroom door and made a beeline to it. He opened the door, but stopped halfway in and poked his back into the hallway.

"Hello?" he said, "Anyone there?"

He stepped out and stood there for a moment before scratching the back of his head and looking around.

"Huh. That's weird, I could've sworn I heard someone say me name," He just shrugged before turning around and jumping back slightly, "Oh, jeez!"

Why was he jumping back? Did he spot something off screen? Looking hard at the corner of the video feed, I see what looks like a shadow on the floor. Jaune looks around for a second before clearing his throat.

"Uhh, sorry. Didn't notice you there." He told the unseen person, "Can I… uhh, help you with something?"

Again, Jaune just stared at the unseen person in silence as he waited for an answer. After a couple of seconds, Jaune began to turn around to walk away while hiking a thumb over his shoulder.

"Sooo, uhm, I have to go back to my friends, sooo...I guess I'll just be-"

But he didn't get to finish his sentence. Instead, a black figure jumped forward and tackled Jaune to the ground before sticking something _into his neck._ And then, they began dragging Jaune off, now unconscious, by his hair off screen.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out, but I barely heard it.

Someone just kidnapped Jaune! My _friend!_ Someone could be hurting him _RIGHT NOW!_

"What happened to him!?" Nora practically yelled at Ozpin, all of us in a similar state of panic. Despite the group of angry teenagers in front of him, Ozpin kept his calm, yet worrisome, expression as he folded his hands over his desk and looked us all in the eyes one by one before answering.

"I don't know." He told us.

I felt my world begin to fall around me, until he continued.

"But… I believe you all can help me find out."

* * *

 **Küd:**

Ah, here we go, the entrance.

I walk in through the entrance and into the room, finally getting a full view instead of having to look through a bulletproof window. Just like the rest of this place, it had bloodstains and a dark foreboding atmosphere. Real positive place, let me tell yah.

Ah well, i'm here, might as well open up that door now. I walk over to a desk with controls and monitors on it, some with static and others showing dark, grainy black and white feeds of more bloodstained rooms. One looks like some sort of mess hall while another looks like a random hallway. I go to press the button on the desk for what i'm guessing is the door, but movement on the monitor for the mess hall catches my eye.

Turning back to it, I see someone walking through the round tables and scanning over them, looking for something. There's not really anything about him that sticks out, except for the gas mask with barbed wire wrapped around the head in a crown. He wore an overcoat with a black t shirt and some color of pants. He also had one of those traveler bags as well as a crowbar in his hand.

So it looks like i'm not the only one here, then. Wonder if I can get to this guy somehow.

Suddenly, the guy's head snaps to something off screen and brings up his crowbar in defence. He starts backing up while keeping his attention on whatever it was that spooked him, when something lunged through mid air towards him. He swung and knocked it out of the air, but another one came not even a second after the first and latched onto him and knocked him onto a table.

Once it stopped moving, I saw it looked like a hunched over… What were they called, _monkeys_? Yeah, a hairless monkey with black veins showing under it's skin and large, circular white eyes. Out of nowhere, eight more of the monkey things come into the video and jump onto the guy before they… Oh shit, they're _tearing him up_. I can see blood n' shit flying. The dude's shaking his head from side to side like he's screaming, but there's no audio. It's….Screw this, i'm just opening the door.

I tear my eyes away from the carnage on the video and look at the button console, but I can't _not_ see it. It's burned into my eyes, those freaking things, tearing into him. Jesus, are those things The Demented? How in the hell am I supposed to fight those things?

Stop. One thing at a time, Küd. Right now, let's focus on what I came here for. That damn door. I scan over the panel until I find a switch labeled for the door just outside, but my finger hovers over it.

What if those things are on the other side of that door?

I could be giving those things a free pass at me if I open that door and they're over there. But who's to say their not on this side, either? The cafeteria could be just around the corner, for all I know, and there's no freaking map here to use for reference. So, do I open it, or do I leave it be?

…

Screw it. Press the button and get it over with.

Once my finger presses down, I hear a beep overhead and look up to see the barred door slide open. I watch it for a few seconds, looking for something that could be waiting for me, but nothing happens. Okay, I guess nothing-

 _What the hell was that?_

It was just a second, but something darted across the entrance and into the hallway, something sparking against the door, before it was gone.

If that isn't foreboding, then I don't know _what_ is. So, stay here and wait for a possible horde of Demented monkeys to come and eat me, or go out to where whatever the hell that thing was?

No point in waiting here, I suppose.


	3. Anyone Out There?

**Anybody out there?**

* * *

 **Edit (11/9): Added more to RyKnow's part.**

* * *

 **Blake:**

It had been three days since we all found out Jaune had been kidnapped, and these past three days have been hectic, to say the least.

It came as a surprise that Jaune was kidnapped, to me anyways. If I hadn't seen solid proof otherwise, I would have believed he had just gotten lost. No offense to the blond, but he does seem pretty daft from time to time.

But now, he's been kidnapped by someone.

To say it was completely unexpected would be an understatement. Who on Remnant would ever have any sort of reason to kidnap Jaune? I personally never interacted with him much past a simple hello and a few short conversations, but from those alone it was easy to see he was a great person. A little insecure and awkward, sure, but a great person nonetheless. So that begs the question, what could have he had done to warrant something like a kidnapping in broad daylight in the middle of a prestigious school full of highly skilled hunters and huntresses?

"Jaune, please be okay." Ruby said to herself for what was probably the thousandth time since Jaune went missing nearby.

We, as in all of team RWBY and the remainder of NPR, were currently combing through one of the patches of forest outside of the kingdom of Vytal.

Now, aside from the question of why he was kidnapped, the even more frustrating part was we had no idea _where_ to look. No idea who even had kidnapped him. So, with nothing to go off of, we only had one choice:

Start searching from one point and spread outwards.

And with only a handful of trainees, that was one large problem to tackle.

Well, I suppose it's not just _us_. Obviously, the Arc family had been notified immediately, and they too had began their own search with their family members as well as friends and acquaintances, so that broadened our reach a bit. We also have the Vale PD, but as of this morning, they stopped searching for Jaune and are now searching for a dead body.

Needless to say, Nobody took kindly to that notion.

I believe that Weiss and I are the only one's who have not been predominantly affected by this. With Jaune having had constantly annoying Weiss with his constant shows of one-sided affection by asking her out _constantly_ , she was doing this more to help Pyrrha than out of actual worry for Jaune. Not to say she despised him by any means, but apparently Weiss and Pyrrha had been friends prior to coming to Beacon. Not surprising, seeing as how they both come from rich and fabulous backgrounds. And as I said earlier, for me it's just simply a lack of knowing him.

Apparently, though, we were the only ones.

Nora understandably took it pretty hard. With her often over the top attitude and displays of emotion, she showed nothing but determination to find her 'glorious leader' and a frightening promise to break _a lot_ of legs.

Ren on the surface seemed fairly calm about the whole situation, but if one looked hard enough and knew what to look for, they could see this was affecting him as well. Minute things, such as a certain lingering for a millisecond here or there.

Yang actually seemed distraught as well as being determined to find Jaune. I had never really thought she would have been so concerned about him. I'll be sure to question her about that later, see what the cause behind that is all about.

Ruby was devastated. She wouldn't stop concentrating on finding Jaune, thinking of places he could have been taken, what she could do to make sure he was okay. This was understandable, seeing as how she is as close to the blonde doofus as she is. He is her first friend here, and most likely her only male friend. I wouldn't put it past her to possibly think of him as something _more,_ actually. Ruby seems like the kind of person who would date a friend, and honestly speaking, they seem like they were pretty compatible.

But Pyrrha… Oh boy, _Pyrrha_.

Pyrrha had almost stopped talking altogether, only speaking whenever it was absolutely necessary. She also had not slept at all since we first found out about Jaune, so she had been awake and searching for him the past three days straight. When the police officer had told them they were now searching for a dead body, _she_ had been the one to almost knock his head off his shoulders.

"Don't worry Rubes, we'll find him." Yang reassured her younger sister by giving her a side hug as we continued to walk, approaching a cliff and getting a decent look at the forest beneath us.

It would have been a beautiful sight, had it not been for the circumstances. Ruby still looked unsure of that.

"But how are we supposed to find him?" The silver-eyed huntress asked unsurely, "We don't even know who took him… A-and if he's even… E-even-"

"Ruby."

Everyone turned to see Pyrrha was the one to have interrupted her, eyes fixed in a stern but supporting gaze as she too walked up to the young huntress and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Jaune isn't dead, I can tell you that right now. We _will_ find him, and we _will_ make whoever is responsible for this pay dearly."

Ruby suddenly found the ground to be very interesting as she hung her head, seemingly ashamed for even entertaining the thought of her best friend being dead. I couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for her. She was a friend, after all. But, when Ruby looked back up with glassy eyes, she looked Pyrrha in the eyes with a look of determination and nodded.

"Yeah, your right Pyrrha."

"Not to be the bearer of bad news…" Weiss spoke up from behind me and gained everyone's attention, "But before we can do anything to help him, we have to know _where_ he is first."

* * *

 **Küd:**

These past three days have been nothing but uneventful.

Okay, so I haven't run into any of the Demented monkey things yet. Or _any,_ for that matter. All that has happened in the past three days is me just wandering around this damn prison, searching as many rooms as possible and find anything I could.

Well, that's not entirely true, I suppose. I apparently no longer feel the need to eat or drink. I haven't even slept since I came here, not feeling the slightest bit tired after walking for this whole time.

 _Yeah._ That's new.

So I may not remember anything about my old life, but I can remember something as simple as the need to eat and drink. But here's the thing: it just hasn't _happened_. I noticed it yesterday, the fact that I had not eaten anything for the past three days and didn't feel hungry at all. My throat wasn't driest in the slightest, and I haven't gotten tired in any sort of way, sleep or exhaustion.

And speaking of memory, I couldn't remember much of anything still. I would get little bits here and there, like a picture of someone blurry or a word, but nothing as annoying as two words that won't stop popping up in my head.

 _Red hair._

Why that, of all things? Red freakin' hair? What did that represent, exactly? The only kind of connection I could think of was someone I knew beforehand must have had red hair. But who was it? No matter how hard I concentrated, it just wouldn't come to me. God, having amnesia was a pain in the ass.

But one thing I can figure, though, the person has to have some sort of strong significance in my life to be the one thing I can remember that really sticks out in my mind.

But no longer having to eat or drink ever again aside, yeah, uneventful.

Except for the _Nights._

Even if I don't have to sleep, darkness still comes apparently. Every Time I had seen the sky once I reached a roofless section, it looked like it was overcast skies all day with fog building up and giving one about twenty feet of visibility around them. So it was already dark enough as it was, but when night came, _that's_ when things got serious.

The first night had been a horrible experience, that was for sure. In almost three minutes, it went from bleak and gray to almost pitch black. Thank whatever deity there is that I had managed to find a flashlight with a few spare batteries, or else I would not have made it through, I have no doubt in my mind. Cause once the darkness fell, _they_ came out.

Like I said, I hadn't physically seen any Demented yet, but I've had some pretty close encounters. During the day, it feels like they're just right round the corner, waiting for you. But during the night, it's like they're breathing down your neck. I had just barely kept ahead of what sounded like a group of roughly forty of those monkey things that had killed that man in the cafeteria, locking myself in one of the rooms and hiding in there until the daylight shone back through one of the barred windows.

This prison, though, is freakin' _massive_. I've literally been walking this whole time, and it doesn't look like it's ending any time soon. Just a seemingly never ending prison. Mess halls, cell blocks, yards with barbed wire fences.

I may not have seen any _living_ people, but I sure as all hell have seen _dead_ ones.

Some of them were fairly intact, just a cut or a crushed skull that look like they came from someone else. So at least I had something to clue me off that not everyone in this place is friendly. But others, others could be in much worse condition. I saw one guy that looked like he hung himself with barbed wire from a rafter. but if that wasn't enough, it looks like some of those demented things had found him. At least, if his legs shredded to the bone was anything to go by.

Needless to say, I'm feeling less and less keen to meeting some of these Demented.

But one thing that I really noticed about every time I ran into a dead body, though, was how _apathetic_ I was to it. I should have probably felt sick, or angry, or _something,_ but I just… Couldn't, really. It was kind of like I was looking more at a statistic than an actual human being.

What had that guy done to me, exactly?

" _Come on, guys, can't we all just get along?_ "

I'm broken from my inner musings when I hear a voice nearby, the first one I've heard since I woke up. I picked up my pace and walked towards the source of the voice, but was sure to be as quiet as possible as I did so. Like I said earlier, not everyone here seemed like the friendliest of people.

I turn a corner and see the usual, a long hallway with three rusted iron doors on each side. Only one was opened, with some light coming out of the doorway. oddly enough, this one room had a barred window between the hallway and it. Walking up to it, It had some grime and other stains on it, but I was able to look through and see three different people inside.

Two of them were next to each other, both seeming to be surrounding the other.

One man seemed like he was some sort of farmer, wearing a brown dirty trench coat with a blue flannel button up under it, tucked into some blue jeans with brown leather boots. On his head, he wore a brown… What were they called, cowboy hats? Yeah, a cowboy hat. But, despite his whole rancher outfit, his mask looked like some sort of bird. It had two glass eyeholes, one being the small while the other was twice it's size. It also had a long beak, probably the length of my knife. He held a long pitchfork in his hands, pointed at the third man.

The other one was dressed differently, though. He wore a black t-shirt, showing off brown skin riddled with scars and stitches until it reached some long, black rubber gloves. He wore some blue jeans as well, but the most predominant feature was the _freaking flamethrower_ attached to his back. Where in the hell did he find one of _those!?_

Anyways, his mask actually fit the rest of his outfit. It was a variant of a gas mask, with the breather coming down in front of his face while he had two tubes on where his cheeks would be leading to a box on the back of his mask. He also had some black fins sticking out of his head, looking sharp enough to cut someone if he were to headbutt them.

The third guy, the one who looked like he was being hustled by these two, wore what looked like ordinary clothing. He had a long sleeved white shirt with black sleeves and tribal markings on it's front. He had black cargo pants and some sneakers, as well as some black gloves and a black backpack. His mask, though, was anything from ordinary.

It looked like it was covered in some sort of rubber, a tanned brown that stretched over his face. It was divided into two pieces, a vertical stitch going across right under his nose as if it was once cut in half. Under it, his mouth had a zipper that was currently opened with small metal bolts around it. The mask didn't cover all of his head, only reaching halfway back before three black straps reached behind his head. He wore a black covering under it, so that covered up the rest of his head. The real icing on the cake, though, was the long rubber nose that looked like it was six inches long or something.

Just like everything else in this place: Unsettling and weird.

The one with the long nose was backing away from the two guys until he backed into a table. the one with the flamethrower crept forward slightly, keeping his weapon trained on long nose while the bird hanged back near the door.

" _This isn't going to end peacefully, is it?_ " Asked long nose.

The only answer he got was stares from the two men holding him up. He sighed.

" _I didn't think it would._ "

Quick as a flash, I saw him wrap his hands around some sort of handle before he swung forward and smacked the flamethrower guy in the face with the business end of a hammer. He nailed the fin guy right in one of the eye holes, making him stagger back before long nose lunged forward and started beating him in the face with the hammer. The bird was about to jump in and back up his friend, but that was when I decided to intervene.

I ran through the door and shoulder checked the bird man, sending him sprawling. He recovered quickly, grabbing his pitchfork and pointed it at me, forgetting his comrade for the bigger threat at the moment. He didn't hesitate before charging forward and attempting to skewer me, but I swiped the pitchfork away at the last second before twirling onto my knees while simultaneously slashing open his stomach with the knife, my dreadlocks swinging across my face before I came to a stop.

The bird man stumbled past me, one arm cradling the new wound while the other still held onto his pitchfork with a death grip as he surveyed the damage. Then, he looked back up at me and got back into a fighting position.

I switched my knife into an ice pick grip and charged forward, screaming my head off as I barely dodged a jab from his pitchfork. He threw a backhand at me, but I caught his arm with my free hand before it could connect and stabbed him in the forearm. With the blade cutting straight through, he screamed in pain as I twisted it and slashed upwards, severing half of his left forearm clean off. He dropped his weapon as he stumbled back and tried to stop the bleeding, clutching at the bleeding stump where his hand used to be.

I didn't give him a chance, though, as I lunged forward and slashed his throat, sending blood flying in all directions and getting a few spots on my mask.

He fell backwards, clawing at his throat as he bleed out, before turning to me and looking at me as his life slipped out. Then, he went still.

I had just killed someone.

And now I have to make sure that his buddy dies too.

Turning to the long nose man, I see that the guy with the flamethrower had knocked Long Nose of of him and was now standing with his weapon aimed at his opponent, but he was bleeding through a cracked eye hole on his mask.

" _Burn in hell._ " He garbled out through his mask before pressing the trigger and letting a stream of fire come pouring out.

Long Nose just barely rolled out of the way, the stream engulfing a empty bookcase that was behind him and catching it on fire instantly. Flamethrower was about to aim at him again, but Long nose kicked outwards and struck him in the knee cap, bending his leg at a painful looking angle. He didn't even give the flamethrower guy a chance to scream as he uppercutted him with the hammer, sending him flat on his ass.

Long nose then came at him with the hammer turned, the side used to pull out nails facing forward as he swung downward and pierced the Flamethrower guy's eye hole and ended his life, sending blood spraying out and getting a few specks on Long nose's mask. He stood there panting before remembering that there was someone else in the room and looked up to see me standing there, knife in hand.

We just kind of stared at each other in silence. Was this guy going to attack me too? Should I? Would it really be worth it? He was probably asking himself the same questions.

Finally, he was the one to break the silence. " _So, you aren't going to, like, kill me or anything, are you?_ "

I just shrugged. " _Should I have a reason to?_ "

" _None that I would know of._ " he admitted. He then stopped for a second, before sticking his hand out to me as a sort of an afterthought.

" _Thanks for the assist, man. Name's RyKnow._ "

And with that, the hostile vibe was gone. I took his hand and shook it, like if we were two friends who just got done playing a game. If it weren't for the dead bodies bleeding out on the floor, that is.

" _It was no problem. And i'm Küd. Pleasure to meet you."_

That caused RyKnow to laugh. " _Holy shit, able to go from killing guys one second to formalities the next._ " He took the hammer and slid it into a strap on his back pack before kneeling down next to the Flamethrower guy and patting him down, " _I'm beginning to like you already._ "

Under my mask, I feel a bit of a grin growing. This guy seems pretty cool.

" _Do you think the flame thrower is salvageable?_ "I ask him as i follow his example and begin checking the bird man. I look up from the dead body to see him shake his head negative.

" _You see this?_ " He said as he tapped a display gauge on the tank strapped to his back. It's needle was in the red zone, " _Means it's empty. Guy was practically using an empty gun."_

" _Guy would've been a hell of a poker player._ " I remarked to myself. One hell of a bluffer, even if he did have a little bit of fuel left.

RyKnow chuckled a bit before standing back up. Having had found nothing on the Bird Man, I followed his example while swiping some blood off of my knife and sheathed it. He then looked back down at the two dead guys on the floor, his nose flapping a little bit with the movement before looking back up at me. " _Hey, listen. A few other guys and I have a temporary camp a little ways from here. Since you helped me, you're welcome to come along if you want._ "

A proposal to join this guy, eh?

Three days, and this is the first guy i've seen who hasn't died violently. Well, lets see here: He apparently knows how to fight, he has other guys with him, and I could probably use the help. I'll have to see what his friends are like, but so far RyKnow himself seems pretty decent. Well, as Decent as a murderer in a bondage mask can be. Final verdict?

Couldn't hurt, I suppose.

" _Doesn't sound bad to me._ " I told him after hardly even having to think about it. " _In a place like this, allies would most certainly be helpful."_

RyKnow nodded. " _Amen to that, brother._ "

* * *

 **Reviews**

 **Harutora75:** **This story is based on an idea I've had for a long time now. For a summarization, think of Hunger games in silent hill.**

 **ISeemNew** **:Good to know.**

 **Guest:** **Good to Know.**

 **advisorysum09:** **Yes, that is Jaune. And if you want a better description, here's one right now.**

 _The blade is about eight inches long and two and a half inches wide, black and with the top curving to a point. There is a small plate of metal two inches long and one inch wide just above the handle with a bolt going through it._

 **Guest:** **Yes, this is from my own mind.**

 **Guest:** **Thank you for the support.**

 **curious viewer:** **I am currently trying to get the actual cover image I drew up on the site, but google is being as helpful as a dead rat. But, yes, that is a very close description and is what the actual mask is based off of. The mouthpiece would be closed, for obvious reasons, and would like a stitched together frown.**

 **Rest assured, Jaune will be the only one going through this transaction.**

 **Thank you for the assurance.**

 **GhostRipperD31H:** **The length depends on what is going to happen. Don't worry, not all chapters will be around 2,000 words. Most, hopefully, will be around 4 to 5,000. Thank you for the support.**


	4. Green as Grass

Green as Grass

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AN:Hey, i'm not going to do Author notes often, but this is a dialogue heavy chapter with a lot of world building.

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Küd:

" _So how long have you been here_?" RyKnow asked me as we walked down the hallway after we got done checking some rooms. With him covering one side and I the other, searching was pretty easy now. I was able to find four more batteries for my flashlight as well as some medical wrappings, and he found what looked like some sort of syringe with neon green liquid in it. It had some scotch tape on it with "Hype" scribbled on it in permanent marker.

" _About three days now_." I told him as I read through a book I found on the floor a bit back. Most of the pages were burned and water damaged, but from the few tidbits I could get, it looked like someone's journal about medical research, " _What about you_?"

It felt like we were two prisoners talking about our sentences. Then again, with the setting, that kind of made sense.

" _About eight months, man_." He told me as he readjusted his grip on his crowbar.

Apparently, he had set it down on the other side of the room when those two guys had came in and tried to kill him. Told me he wouldn't make that mistake again.

" _So it's safe to say you know a fair bit about this place, then?_ " I ask.

RyKnow nodded at me as he walked around a knocked over wheelchair.

" _I know enough to get by._ " He said as he looked over some bloodstains on the wall that looked fairly decent that led into a room with a closed door.

He seemed to be thinking hard about something as he tucked his crowbar under one of his arms before pulled out a notepad from his pocket and started to flip through some pages. I caught a glimpse of the papers and saw what looked like a bunch of tally marks, some under the letter D while the others were under the letter H.

" _Somethin' on your mind?_ " I ask him as I poke a door open with my foot.

I see a dead body inside with flies buzzing around it and close the door. I'd rather not run the risk of puking in my mask. Actually, can I even puke anymore?

" _Just updating my kill list_." He told me as he made one tally under H and pocketed the book, " _I'm gonna have to find some Demented pretty soon, don't want my Dementia messing up_."

I just gave him a sideways glance and a slight tilt of the head, show I had no idea what he was talking about. He looked at me for a second before he seemed to realize something.

" _Holy crap, you don't know about Dementia_?" He asked me, " _Didn't your Doc tell you about it_?"

My Doc? Who in the hell is my… Oh, he must mean the guy who gave me the knife. I shook my head no.

" _No, he said something about not having enough time_." I told him. " _What is it_?"

For some reason, I felt an odd sense of Deja vu.

" _Dementia...Oh jeez, how do I explain it_?" He looked like he was thinking over something as he scratched his rubber chin, " _It's kinda like… Like Karma._ "

He put away his notebook and tucked the crowbar under his armpit as he held both of his hands upwards and slightly raised the right one.

" _Okay, so Dementia is essentially a force that gives you superpowers based on what kind of person you are here. Imagine a bar, one side is red, the other side is blue, and the middle is gray. No matter what side you're on, you're gonna have a certain amount of energy that you can use to use certain abilities. Depending on how many people and Demented you kill here, you end up on one part of the bar. If you kill more Demented than you do Humans, then you would be on the blue side of the bar._ "

" _When you're on the blue side of the bar, you're what's called a Pacifist, which is supposed to mean you're against fighting in general, but in this case it's for killing people. And you're going to kill someone regardless of what you do, everyone does. At least, the ones who live_."

" _So you were saying about pacifists?_ " I try to keep him from going off topic.

" _Oh, yeah. No matter what you do, Dementia is gonna give you some sort of powers. Pacifists, they get stuff that you could consider support. Say if you or someone with you gets injured and you want to heal that injury, you could. Maybe you want to go invincible for a few minutes? You'll be able to, if you're really far down the blue bar. Keep in mind, though, that using these powers uses up some of your energy_."

" _So kind of like one of those healers from video games_?" I ask.

" _Actually, that's a pretty good summarization, because the more Demented you kill coupled with how many people, the more abilities you can use. Like leveling up in a video game. You could do other stuff too, like make a temporary shield, teleport a friend a short distance_."

" _Holy shit._ " I'm just taken aback that this is is possible. People teleporting? Healing other people like it was a freaking video game? That sounds unbelievable.

" _Moving on, we go to the red side of the bar_." RyKnow then lowers his left hand and raises his right higher, " _The people on this side are called Negative Ones. If you couldn't guess, these guys kill way more people than they do Demented_."

" _Just like with the Pacifists, they have abilities of their own, but more sinister. You can do a whole myriad of things, like spit bits of acid out of your mouthpiece or conjure little black spikes. I've even seen some guys create Demented and use them as their own minions. This, however, requires a lot of energy. They normally are the more predominant ones you'll find during your stay of La Casa de Infierno._ "

" _Okay then. You said something about a gray part of the bar?_ " I asked him as we rounded a corner and walked into what looked like a large holding block. It was empty, and all of the cell doors were closed, so we could continue talking without being interrupted.

" _The gray part of the spectrum belongs to the 'Seekers', which is what I am. So, so far you understand that this whole thing depends on your kill ratio of Humans to Demented, right?_ "

I nod my head in understanding as we pass under a iron walkway.

" _Well Seekers get in the gray part of the bar by evening out there kill ratio, hence why I said I need to go find some more Demented_."

" _So I'm guessing that since both Negative Ones and Pacifists have powers of there own, so do the Seekers_?" I ask, and RyKnow nods.

" _The name kind of implies it all. Seekers, well, seek. Think of like a radar._ "

He stopped, as if thinking about something, and reached into his pocket and pulled his little book back out before starting to draw on it. When he finished, he flipped it around to show me a simple drawing of a radar, with one dot in the center and a few scattered around. He then pointed at the center dot with the pencil.

" _This dot right here represents me. Basically, I can sense any sort of Negative One or Pacifists within a mile's radius, as long as they themselves use their abilities._ "

" _So you're like a human radar_?" I threw out a name that would best fit him. RyKnow chuckled as he put the notebook back.

" _After what the docs did to us, I don't think we have the right to call ourselves humans anymore._ "

That's right, he said something about surgeries being done.

" _Do you know what they did to us, exactly_?"

I ask, hoping he would know.

" _I'm not a hundred percent certain, but I've gotten a pretty basic idea from some medical records we found once in a abandoned doctor's office._ "

" _So you already know about the fact we no longer have to eat, sleep, or drink, right? Well, on top of that, we don't wear out. You could literally run for days and not feel a thing_."

" _Damn_." I say, unable to think of anything else to say.

" _Oh, you think that's all? Küd, we've hardly even scraped the surface. Another thing I've found is that our skin, as well as our organs, have been practically tripled in the amount of damage they can take. So I could throw a stone at your face and it'd be like shooting a bear in the face, just piss you off more than anything. And even if someone were able to get through your skin, the wound would probably be gone within a few hours unless it's something major like a missing limb_."

…

Okay, my mind just got blown.

 _"So… It's like a… Shit, what is it called_?" I try to remember a term I had heard once that would fit this, but I can't seem to recall even something as simple as that.

" _It's just short of what's called a healing factor. That's why in here, if you're gonna kill someone, you're best bet is to use your abilities or be as absolutely brutal and quick as you can. That's why I aimed for that flamethrower guy's eye's, since they were weaker than the rest of his body as well as being a vital organ_."

" _Looks like i'm gonna have to study up on my human anatomy, then._ " I chuckle to myself as we go through the doors of the prison block and back into another hallway.

" _Wait a minute, how did my knife cut through that guy's skin so easily then if his skin is like stone_?"

RyKnow raised a finger in a 'holdup' sign.

" _Ah-ah-ah, not stone. More like hard wood with stone bones. And to answer your first question, It's because all of the weapons are made with a certain material. Ever noticed how they look like they're sinister in some sort of way_?"

I nod my head, remembering my similar observation on the knife a couple of days ago.

" _I don't know what it is, but it was made for the sole purpose of causing some major pain. My crowbar is, your knife is, that one guy's pitchfork was_."

" _So I hold a weapon that is made out of some sort of evil material that can outkill an Ursa_?"

RyKnow gave me a sideways glance.

" _Ursa? The hell's an Ursa_?"

An Ursa? That's… What is an Ursa, actually? Shit, I literally just said it. The only thing that comes to mind is darkness.

And an urge to cut something.

" _I'm… Not sure, actually. I think it's some sort of bear_."

" _Whatever. I haven't seen any bears in this place yet, so let's hope it isn't important_. _And I may not remember everything, but I can remember enough to know that Bears are freaking terrifying_."

That's gonna bug me now. Why does that name sound so familiar? And when I think about it, I just want to… How I do I describe it… It's like I want to find this Ursa thing and kill it.

And like RyKnow said, if I'm going to want to survive in here, i'm going to have to learn how to kill in the most brutal ways possible.

" _So how long until we reach these two guys you've been talking about_?" I ask after we walk in silence for a bit longer, having decided wordlessly that we were done with searching rooms for a bit.

" _Well, technically, it's a guy and a girl. You'll be able to tell who's who when you see them_." RyKnow corrected me as he poked his head around a corner before motioning me forward, "And to answer your question, they're just two hallways ahead."

" _So there's females here too then_?" I ask just to be sure. I hadn't seen any sort of presence of the opposite sex in this place yet, dead or alive, so I just wanted to be sure.

" _Yeah, but there's a whole lot more guys than girls here. It really sucks to be one in this place, though_."

" _Why do you say that_?" I ask. RyKnow turned to look at me silently for a few seconds before he spoke.

" _What do you think happens to females when there's only a few of them and a lot of guys_?"

What? What does he mean by…

…

That's sick.

" _Shit, you've gotta be kidding me_." I say aloud, but not really addressing him. So this place… Dear god, what in the hell is wrong with people? To seriously do something like that?

" _I wish I was. When we had another guy in our group a few weeks back, he tried bringing the idea up with me._ " He said as he turned back around and began to walk again, " _So I shattered his knee caps and left him for dead."_

I begin to follow him again as I think about what I would have done if I were in RyKnow's position. Only one thing sticks in my head:

The same freaking thing.

With those being the last things said, we walk in silence the rest of the way down the last hallway until he comes up to a closed wrought iron door. RyKnow stops in front of it before reaching forward and knocking once, waiting a few seconds, then knocking four times quickly. We wait in silence for a couple of seconds until I hear what sounds like a large lock slide out of place behind the door and it jerks open.

And I see the largest man I had ever seen in my life.

At least, any that I could remember.

Standing there is a man who looks like he's about seven feet tall, built like he was a solid wall of muscle with a beefy arm. I say arm, seeing as how he only has a right one with his left looking like it had been removed from the shoulder. regardless, he still looked like he could crush my skull with just one hand.

He wore a simple gray t-shirt with bloodstains all over it. For pants, he had some similar to RyKnow's, being black cargo pants, except longer to fit him and with the ends tucked into some black combat boots.

In his hand he he had what I could only describe as an oversized pick axe, it's handle probably as long as my leg and actual blade reaching out past my arm. And due to some dried bloodstains on it as well, I'm guessing it's for more than looks.

And then we have his mask. It fit perfectly with the sort of 'insanely terrifying' look he was pulling off, looking like a metal mask with slashes going down that would probably be for breathing if it weren't for them being covered up. Like RyKnow's, it had bolts outlining the edge and around the mouthpiece, but I felt like there was a specific term for it. Something called a..

A Hockey mask.

" _Who's the new guy?_ " The giant of a man asked, his voice sounding like it could shatter brick walls if he yelled hard enough.

" _Someone who saved my as, that's who_." RyKnow answered him before gesturing to the behemoth, " _Küd, this is Gurrg. Gurrg, Küd._ "

We both looked at each other silently for a few seconds, squaring each other up and looking for weaknesses. I was thinking about how I would probably have to go for his knees first if we were to fight before he spoke up.

" _He don't look like much_." He commented as he rested his hand on the top of the pick's handle.

" _And you look like you shit bricks_." The words slipped out before I could think about it, but I didn't act like it was an accident. Instead, we continued to stare each other down before Gurrg nodded.

" _He's cool_." He said, then turned around and walked back inside.

I look over at RyKnow who slowly turns back to face me.

" _Out of all the guys we've brought on, you'd be the first i've ever seen Gurrg approve of_." He commented like it was the weirdest thing ever befor he patted me on the shoulder and walked in. " _There just may be hope for you yet, Küd._ "

* * *

Reviews

* * *

TehUnoman: You could call it that.

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advisorysum09: It's no problem.


	5. All in the Family

**All in the Family**

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 **Over two thousand views as of 11/12. Thanks.**

 **And on an additional note, I've started up another story this weekend, titled 'Foreign Exchange', my first attempt at an SI. So if updates take just a smidge bit longer than usual, then you know why. You could also be super cool and read it, but eh, that's just me.**

* * *

 **Blake:**

It's been five days since Jaune was kidnapped. Five days, and not a single damn lead has been found by _anyone_.

It's not as if we haven't been trying. The Arc family had been using all of their contacts to get as many eyes looking for any sort of trace, but even with their large family, they have had just as much luck in their search as we had. By now, we've covered about half of Vytal, and still had the same answers as we did when we first started: none.

Today had started out just like everyone was feeling: gray skies and rain coming down, putting an even more depressing atmosphere on for us. To cover more ground, we decided to go with our partners and search around a small town on the northwestern island of Vale called _Ridgeville_.

Yang and I walked down the sidewalk of a small neighborhood, most of the homes dark as the lights went out as the day drew to a close and night began to creep over the horizon.

"I think it's about time we went back to bumblebee." Yang admitted once the last light went out and the only thing allowing us to see was the street lamp on just overhead. She sounded very reluctant.

"That wouldn't seem like a horrible idea." I agreed as we turned and started to head back in the direction of her motorcycle. We walked in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"Blake, you're starting to feel it too, right?"

I turned to her and raised an eyebrow like I didn't know what she was talking about. But I did. Everyone had started to feel it as well, even Ruby and Pyrrha. Even if they tried to deny it, they knew that it was going to come sooner or later.

"Feel what?" I asked, playing dumb.

"That maybe we aren't going to find Jaune."

She looked hurt having to admit that. Something I had never realized before hand was that Yang had actually been closer to Jaune than we all first thought. It wasn't by some sort of _relationship_ status, but more along the lines of good friends. This must have been as hard for her to admit as it was for Ruby. Now that I think about it, this may be reminding her of the whole situation with her mother a bit.

"Yang, come on." I tried to console her as I put a hand on her shoulder, "We've been searching for almost six days now, and we haven't found anything. Your uncle Qrow wasn't even able to find any more than we did."

"I know, Blake. It's just that…" Yang looked down at the ground between her feet as we kept on walking, "I can't help feeling like we're… Giving up on him, you know?"

"Yang, there's a difference between giving up and realising that there's nothing we can do."

She nodded with me, but didn't look any better. We finally arrived at the parking garage where the yellow motorbike resided. Yang reached for the handle to get on, but I stopped her by grabbing her hand and making her turn to me.

Right before I reached forward and wrapped my arms around her.

For a second, she didn't say anything. Then she simply rested her head on my shoulder and returned the hug as we stood there in silence.

"Thanks, Kit-kat." She said as she pulled back with a little smile on her face. I squinted my eyes at her in mock annoyance.

"You really are a pain, you know that?" I ask her. She brightens up as her little smile turns into a full grin.

"Aww, you know you love me." she grins before getting on the bike and patting the seat behind her for me to get on. I do as she says as she starts up the engine and we drive off into the rain, back to the hotel where we had set up our 'base camp'.

And eventually, back to Beacon.

* * *

 **Küd:**

Not wanting to be the only one out in the dark hallway full of demented monsters and psychotic killers, I follow RyKnow into the room to see it was a lot bigger than I thought it was originally, the ceiling easily twenty feet high. The room itself looked like it was some sort of gym before… Well, whatever happened _happened_. RyKnow waved his hand around at the whole thing as he set down his bag against a wall.

" _Welcome, boys and girls, to our humble abode. Over to your left, you can see our extravagant queen beds with velvet coveri-_ "

" _RYKNOW_!"

The Long-nosed killer was interrupted as a person came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground in a hug. I was going to reach for my knife until I realised he wasn't fighting back, just laying there as the person who tackled him… nuzzled his cheek?

" _Hey SpAg_." He deadpanned before standing up, causing the person to step back and start dusting him off as they giggled.

" _He he he, sorry._ " The person said with an effeminate voice. They then turned to face me before quickly turning back around to RyKnow, " _So who's the new guy_?"

" _SpAg, this is Küd. Dude helped save my ass earlier, so I brought him back with me._ "

" _What am I, a stray dog?_ " I questioned him.

" _You'd be the awesomest stray I've ever seen_." He remarked, but by now the person called SpAg had turned around and walked up to me.

Turn's out it was a she, if the two bulges on the chest and long straight blond hair were anything to go by. She wore a zipped-up black hoodie with the hood pulled up, letting her hair come out only at the front. She also had on some blue jeans that were hugging her figure and some black tennis shoes. Her mask, surprisingly, wasn't as disturbing as all the other masks I've seen so far, only looking like a plain white mask with black markings on it, dots around the eyes and a line across the mouth with some stitches that reminded me of something called a scarecrow. She was shorter than me, having to look up slightly to look at my face as she studied it.

Wait, not face. Mask.

" _So, you helped RyKnow?_ " She asked me as she tilted her head to the side in curiosity. I just settled for a nod, not really knowing what to say. She continued to look at me before nodding to herself.

" _Well then, you're more than welcome to stay!_ " She cheered out as she twirled around the room happily. I just kind of stared at her until I felt RyKnow nudge me in the ribs with his elbow.

" _Two for two._ " He chuckled.

" _You have quite the menagerie of people here._ " I remarked as SpAg plopped down into what… Holy shit, where did she find a bean bag chair in this place?

" _Well, looks like you're part of it now._ " He said.

" _I guess so._ " I looked between him and SpAg, then bag at him before pointing between him and her, " _Soooo… Are you two… Y'know?_ "

He tilted his head to the side in confusion. Don't tell me he-

" _Are we what_?"

…

You have got to be kidding me.

" _You know what, nevermind._ " I said as I looked around for something to do. I saw nothing, so just turned back to him, " _So, what should I do?_ "

" _We're actually about to head out._ " Gurrg said from the other side of the room as he picked up five duffel bags in one hand by the handles. " _So if you want to make yourself useful, grab a bag and pick it up._ "

I look at the ground near him to see two bags by his feet. One black and another pink, with what looked like some sort of doll on it. I walk over and grab the black one while SpAg picks up the pink one.

" _Oh, don't mind Gurrg. He may look like a big scary monster, but under all that muscle, he's just a big, fluffy teddy-bear._ " She then turned to said teddy bear and looked up at him, " _Ain't that right, Gurrg?_ "  
" _I will kill everything you've ever loved._ "

" _See? A teddy bear!_ " She exclaimed before running over to RyKnow's side by the door, " _Come on, lazy butts! Let's go!_ "

I look over to Gurrg, who has the five bags in one hand and his giant pickaxe in a sheath on his back.

" _She always like this?_ "

" _Pretty much._ " He admitted , " _I pray to god that girl never consumes any sort of sugar._ "

I nod in agreement as we make our way to the door. He eyes my knife a bit before nodding to it.

" _You may want to find somethin' else to fight with 'sides that pig sticker._ "

I look down at said knife, but shake my head.

" _It's worked for me so far. Thanks, but I'll stick with this for now._ "

Gurrg just shrugged.

" _Suit yourself_."

* * *

 **Ozpin:**

"So you're telling me you've finally found something?" I asked as I folded my hands in front of me on top of my desk, seated in my chair within my office.

Qrow nodded in affirmative as he pulled something out of his pocket and began to examine it.

"I was searching through a warehouse in one of Mistral's cities red light districts when a contact of mine said he heard something similar to the profile of the Jaune kid. Some place called Stonewall."

He handed me what looked like a picture of an abandoned prison with stone walls and iron bars everywhere, as well as fog all around it. Looking closer, I saw something that looked akin to a dead body with someone crouching over it. No, not someone.

 _Something_.

"What did he say?" I asked him as I took a closer look at the creature, but wasn't able to make out much of it due to the poor quality of the picture except for it was humanoid and had pale skin with stitches all over it and was missing it's left arm.

"Said that he saw a hooded man with the kid over his shoulder walk into a room, and they never came out." He said as he pulled out his flask and took a drink. "He said he's never seen _anyone_ ever come out of that room, 'cept for the hooded man."

If he says hooded man, then I can only assume it was the same one as the one who abducted Jaune.

"Where exactly is this place located?" I asked him.

"Like I said, a warehouse in downtown Stonewall." Qrow reminded me.

"Very good then. I believe teams RWBY and JNPR will be glad to hear of this develo-"

I go to reach for my scroll sitting atop my desk, but was stopped as Qrow grabbed my wrist and shook his head.

"Ozpin, I hate to contradict you, but that really isn't a great idea."

I raised a lone brow at him.

"You would rather withhold this information from this young man's friends, two of which are your very nieces?"

He remained silent as he looked down at his lap for a few seconds before looking into my eyes.

"Ozpin, my informant didn't just tell me what he saw. He told me about what happens to the people who go into that room. And let me tell you this…"

He leaned forward, inches from my face as he finished his sentence.

"You'd better pray that if you do find that kid, that he better not be breathing."


	6. A Drug Called Homocide

**A Drug Called Homicide**

* * *

 **AN: So I just realized I forgot to respond to some reviews in the last chapter. Those will be with the others at the bottom.**

* * *

 **Küd:**

It's kind of weird, not remembering what eating and drinking felt like.

By now I've obviously realized that I'm not gonna remember much from my old life, just bits and pieces. But I can remember enough to tell that eating and drinking is something that _needs_ to happen. And yet, it _hasn't._ While I remember having to eat, I don't remember what it actually _feels_ like. Or drinking, for that matter.

Are there different tastes to food? Yeah, or else there wouldn't have been all of those different types. But what do they taste like, though?

" _Küd, come over here for a sec."_

I was drawn from my thoughts by the sound of my name and looked up to see everyone standing up ahead in front of a double iron door, RyKnow and SpAg rooting around in a bag while Gurrg looked through one of the barred windows to what looked like an open space outside of the walls. Once I had caught up, RyKnow pulled out a long barreled rifle with a strap on it and handed it over to me.

" _Okay, here's the situation: We've got to get across this yard here so we can keep going this way, seeing as how it's either this or backtrack for a few hours. So, like I said, walk across the yard to the other side."_

I examined the rifle, bolt-action with a wooden stock and a long black barrel and a magazine sticking out from the bottom. Pressing a button next to it, I pulled it out and checked it to see it full of about twenty rounds. RyKnow handed me two other clips, which I stuffed into my pant's pockets.

" _Wait, question."_ I ask as I slid it back into the rifle, " _Why don't you use guns more often_?"

" _Well, all we know is that the bullets aren't made out of the same materials our blades and bludgeons are, so they're less effective against humans. Work great for Demented, however."_

Gurrg answered as he unsheathed his pick axe and twirled it around while waiting for RyKnow to secure the bags over his chest for him.

" _Wait, so if we're breaking out the guns…."_ I said.

" _There's a shit-ton of Demented between us and the other door in the prison yard."_ SpAg said as she looked through the window outside, " _Easily over a hundred."_

I walk up to her side and look through the window to see what looks like a horde of gray skin with body parts missing all over, with larger ones towering over a select few here and there.

" _Looks like your gonna hit the ground running, bud."_ RyKnow said as he patted me on the back. " _But anyways, this is what we're gonna do: SpAg and I are going to man the windows with our rifles and clear some of these things out while you and Gurrg run across and clear a path for us. When you reach the other side, You and Gurrg are going to secure the other room before you take that rifle, aim through one of the windows and kill any Demented that get too close to SpAg and I as we run across while Gurrg stays out by the door and keeps it clear there 'till we make it across and get inside, at which point you'll get the door closed behind us._ "

I nod once he's finished and walk up next to Gurrg, knife out and ready to kill. He placed his foot against the line between the two doors before looking at me.

" _Ready to kill your first Demented?"_ He asked. I hold my knife in an icepick grip as I nod again.

" _As I'll ever be."_

And with that, he pushed the door open and we charged out into hell.

Ten feet away slightly to my left was the very first Demented I had ever seen. It looked to be male, with a black robe stained with blood around it's waist and stitches riddled all across it's body. It was missing the lower half of it's left forearm, instead having a rusty black blade jutting out of it and a sharp claw for it's right hand. Something, _or someone_ , seriously screwed this thing up.

All heads turned to Gurrg and I, in similar states of damage as the first one, and stood still as we all realized the other's presence. Until Gurrg jumped forward and crushed three Demented with one swing of his giant pickaxe.

Following the Behemoth's example, I lunged at the first Demented and slashed its throat open with my blade as I ran past it. As it fell, a small puff of smoke came from it's mouth and drifted at my chest before it disappeared.

 _KRACK!_

I felt a bullet whiz past my ear and obliterate the skull of another Demented just ahead of me, followed by SpAg giving off a loud ' _whooop!'_ of joy. More followed immediately after, every shot striking a brain and getting a kill. Something I noticed, however, was more faint wisps of smoke coming from their mouths and flying behind me to what I assumed was RyKnow and SpAg.

Odd, but not something I should focus on at the moment.

I continued to run, dodging swipes and returning them with my knife, mostly severing an arm or a leg with them all as opposed to the actual killing stroke as if their flesh and bone were the equivalent of air as black fountains of blood flew through the air and painted their brothers and sisters in it.

RyKnow was right, whatever the hell this blade was made out of, it was made for killing.

Up ahead, a group of the buggers had gotten together right in my path. I felt a surge of excitement build up in me as one thought came into my head:

' _As if they'll be able to stop_ me.'

Picking up the pace until everything around me started to blur, I jumped up and kicked outwards with both of my feet hard enough to make one's head explode and the other's cave in and sent the rest flying. I landed into a roll before coming back up and kept on running.

I continued to run, but was reminded of Gurrg's presence as a Demented upper torso went flying past me and smacked into another one, tearing it to pieces with the force of the throw. Once it fell, I was able to finally spot our destination past the sea of monsters before more filled the gap.

" _Gurrg! Need some help over here!"_ I yelled over my shoulder, slowing down a bit for him to catch up while I punched a Demented in the jaw hard enough to rip it off. Instead of saying something, he just yelled as he charged past me with his head down and knocked through the group, limbs flying as he did so.

Hate to be on the receiving end of _that_.

Following the path he made as I stepped over the dead bodies, we made it over to the stone walls and the iron door. Except unlike the last one, this door had a round handle, like you would see for the hatch of a… Shit, it's called a...

" _Submarine?"_ I whispered to myself. That sounded about right.

" _Shit! Pipsqueak, cover my ass while I get the door open!"_ Gurrg yelled as he propped his pickaxe next to the door and began to slowly turn the wheel.

Doing as he said, I set the pack and gun down next to the door for more maneuverability before turning back around to see at least eighty Demented in our immediate vicinity.

" _You had better freakin' hurry, Gurrg!"_ I yelled.

Being completely surrounded wasn't something that I wanted.

" _Oh, no, I think I'll just sit here and whip out my-OF COURSE I'M HURRYING!"_

Nodding to myself, I reached forward to the closest Demented and grabbed it by the neck before stabbing it in the eye and slashing outwards to slit another's throat. As those two fell to the ground, I punched a lanky female in the head, caving in her skull.

Bullets were still hitting their mark as RyKnow and SpAg kept up their end of the plan, thinning out the small horde of the big sea from the outside and working their way in. As I tore off one's arm, I realized that these things weren't even turning towards them.

That's when it hit me: These things don't have ears.

As I grabbed one's skull and slammed it into my knee, I saw that where it's ears should have been, there was only skin. So in other words, these things can't hear.

Actually, I think that's wrong. As I ducked a swipe from one with a rusty sickle for a hand before uppercutting it onto it's ass, I saw that there were bulges where the ears would be. So it did have ears at one point?

Wait, why in the hell am I thinking about this _now?_ I'll ask RyKnow later. Right now, I should probably focus on _not dying._

" _Come on, you goddamned freak shows!"_ I goaded them as I switched my knife back into a icepick grip, " _COME AND GET ME!"_

They seemed to answer my call, picking up their pace as they shambled forward. But, I was _impatient._ I wanted to watch them die. No, more than _that_.

I wanted to _feel_ it. _Make them_ all _die._

Screaming at the top of my lungs, I lunged forward, slashing left and right as they fell to the ground, the smoke coming up and to me. In a way, it felt as if I was stealing their souls. Ripping them out. And you know what?

It felt _good._

The rush of seeing their blood splatter everywhere, the sound of tendons and muscle tearing, it felt euphoric. _Enlightening._ Like taking a hit from the world's greatest drug, excitement flowing through my veins and empowering every strike, every slash. And I could tell, I was already an addict.

I began to lose count of how many I killed. Ten? Twenty? A hundred? I wasn't sure anymore. I was beginning to see less of the ground and more of the bodies, but I still went on. Still slashed, still bashed, still crashed until they stopped moving. Rearing back, I slammed my head forward and head-butted one male's head, sending chunks flying. When it didn't go down the first time, I reared back and did it again, smashing its skull into pieces before doing it a third time for good measure into it's chest, caving it in and sending the body back into two of its buddies.

As I kicked another in the gut, sending its insides pouring out as it fell, I heard what sounded like iron grating against something and turned to see Gurrg pulling the door open. I wheeled around and darted over to the bag and gun before picking it up.

" _Have fun, Dreads?"_ Gurrg asked as he picked up his pick and turned, ready to fight some more.

I picked up the rifle and dropped to a knee, looking down the scope of the rifle and sighting around the door.

" _More than ever."_ I admitted as I saw RyKnow and SpAg pull back from the windows and get ready to come out.

Instead of waiting for them to come out, I started picking off a few lingering by the door. I'm guessing that this wasn't the first time that I had handled a gun in my life, seeing as how it wasn't much of an issue to hit my mark. Either that, or those doctors really did breed to kill.

" _You would think so, from the way you were laughing."_ He said gruffly as he swung downwards and cleaved a fat Demented in two. I tilted my head to the side slightly as I blew another one's head off.

" _I was laughing?_ " I asked him as I pulled the bolt back and allowed another bullet to enter the rifle's chamber before sliding it back forward and sighting up another target, the whole transaction taking half a second.

Gurrg nodded, lashing out with his foot and snapping a Demented in half.

" _Like a god-damned loon."_ He admitted.

I nodded just as the last two of our group finally came out of the door all the way on the other side of the yard. I watched RyKnow twirl his crowbar a few times before swinging it and obliterating two skulls at once. SpAg was fairing the same, her bat snapping a female's leg before she swung down hard enough to send it's head into it's stomach.

I lost sight, though, when a few Demented came into my vision. Looking up from my scope, I saw that a lot more of them had gathered around us.

And when I saw a lot, I really mean _a lot._

Gurrg and I were very easily surrounded by a couple hundred of these things, a solid wall of Demented spanning out about eighty feet to our sides and about fifty in front of us. If those two didn't hurry their asses up, we might get cut off.

Deciding that this was a more pressing matter than having to keep any Demented getting close to SpAg and RyKnow, I dropped the rifle and pulled my knife back out. They probably weren't going to meet much of a resistance until they reached our little party, anyways.

" _Heads up!"_ I yelled as I jumped into a small group of about five Demented and knocked them down, hearing bones snap like twigs before I knelt down and stabbed them to death. Gurrg seemed to be thinking the same thing as me, if the lack of objections to me jumping in were anything to go by. Instead, he just swung horizontally and took down eight Demented. He looked over his shoulder very quickly before nodding at something behind me.

" _Look out for that Wisp, it'll hurt like a bitch if it gets you."_ He pointed out.

Looking up, I saw something different than the other Demented. Hunched over, It still had that gray, mottled skin like the others, and the stitches, but it also had it's own little details. Instead of the blank white I was used to, this thing's eyes were pouring out _smoke._ Mouth too, matter of fact. Plus, it had two tubes coming from it's back into the sides of it's neck and instead of claws or some rusty blade, just two long barbed fingers with something dripping off of them.

Not waiting to see what it would do, I lunged from my crouch and tackled it to the ground before stabbing it in the forehead. It let out a loud death screech, but didn't do anything else as it curled up and died after I wrenched my knife out of it. Standing up, I saw another regular Demented shambling forward and prepared to beat it's face in until a baseball bat did the job for me, it's owner kicking it forward before waving at me.

" _Heya Kud, did you miss-_ CRAP, MOVE!"

Out of nowhere, SpAg tackled me a few feet backwards. Before I could question her, I heard a loud _pop_ noise and saw the body of The Wisp explode into a cloud of gas. She immediately stood up and held a hand out to me, which I took and got to my feet. I was going to thank her for the save until she whirled around on Gurrg.

" _Hey, scatterbrains, way to warn the new guy about the exploding bodies!"_ She nagged him as he held off a strike from what looked like a club with his pick.

" _Shit. My bad._ " He apologized before thrusting his giant pickaxe forward and crushing three Demented.

" _What's wrong with the body?"_ I asked. Instead of verbally answering, she just pointed to the gas cloud.

I turned my head to see the gray cloud still there, not really doing anything. That was when a Demented walked into it, however, and it's skin started to bubble and pop, melting off of it's body and turning to liquid, the creature falling to the ground. then the cloud dissipated.

" _Oh shit."_ I said before turning to her and nodding, " _Thanks for the save."_

" _No problem, Newbie!"_ She shrugged enthusiastically before turning around and clubbing a Demented in the head hard enough to send it's head flying.

" _All right, inside!"_ RyKnow yelled as he jumped off of a Demented's face and flipped over our heads, " _NOW!"_

Following his example, we all turned and ran towards the door before jumping inside Gurrg, being the last one, threw his pick in before turning around and yanking the door closed, just in time to cut off the hand of a Demented trying to reach through. We stood their for a couple of seconds, just listening to the sound of most likely over a hundred Demented banging on the door before RyKnow clapped his hands and rubbed them together.

" _Well, that was a horrible and traumatizing experience."_ He said before raising one fist in the air, " _Who wants to do it again?"_

We all stared at him in silence for a few seconds until I couldn't help it, and began to laugh. SpAg snorted before starting to laugh herself, and Gurrg wasn't too far behind with a deep chuckle until we _all_ started to laugh like loons, hearing the echo of mad men going down the hall leading out of this room.

Even if we were laughing, it didn't mean I _objected_ the idea. I still felt like I could fight an army. No, more importantly, I felt as if I could _kill_ an army. My hands felt useless, as if they only wanted to be holding a weapon or crushing skulls in it's fists, not doing nothing. They yurned to kill.

And that made me want to laugh more.

But, the joke had run it's course, and the laughter had faded off as we regained our posture and wordlessly began to hand the bags back to Gurrg to carry so we could get back to walking. As I slipped the handle of my bag over his chest, a slight red glow had caught my eye coming from me. Looking down, I saw a slight white glow coming from my hands.

I wasn't the only only one to notice it, RyKnow walking up to me as I looked down at my blood-stained gloves and patted me on the back.

" _Well, looks like someone just popped their metaphorical cherry. Congrats bud, you just unlocked your Dementia."_

I continued to look at my hands as the white glow continued to shine. There was something wrong with it, though. It looked like there was shimmers of red in the white, before they started to grow and grow, replacing the white.

" _Uhhhh, Ry? I don't think that's his Dementia…"_ SpAg said as she tilted her head to the side as the red began to outnumber the white.

" _Then what the hell is it, then?"_ The confusion in his voice was evident as the white glow was entirely gone now. Now, in it's place was red wisps of fire, encapsulating my form like flames. Whatever it was, it wasn't just for show. Flexing my fist, I felt a surge of energy flow through me, sending waves of pleasure throughout my system and causing me to take a sharp breath from the pleasure.

Dear god, this felt _good._

" _It looked like there was something fighting his Dementia for a second, whatever that glow was."_ I somewhat heard Gurrg offer. I didn't really pay much attention to him, studying the wisps coming from my body.

" _No, not fighting it…"_ RyKnow said as he began to scratch his chin in thought. " _It's almost as if it's..._ Merging _with his Dementia…."_

" _Yeah, but what is_ it _exactly?"_ SpAg asked as she scooted close to him.

I would have asked RyKnow if he was blind or just that dense, but I was too focused on the wisps beginning to dissipate. The feeling of power, however, stayed as I flexed my fist and walked over to the stone wall and inspected it.

Right before I punched it hard enough to create a crater in it the size of a melon, sending chips flying and cracks spider-webbing across the wall.

" _To answer your question, SpAg…."_ I turned after flexing my fist, feeling the tingle of having hit something, but no pain. That should have broken my fingers. " _It's something from before this. Something similar to Dementia, but something different at the same time. Something called…"_

I turned back to them before picking up my bag and putting it on.

" _Something called Aura."_

* * *

 **Reviews**

 **Guest: Eh, nothing concrete except for Ren/Nora, Neptune/Weiss, the usual.**

 **Vinystark: No, thank Yoooooou! (Please get that reference)**

 **The Reader Who Reads: You wouldn't be the first one to say that. Thanks for the support.**

 **Dreadphoenix: I appreciate your support, thanks man.**

 **advisorysum09: Thanks for the support**

 **SunwukongMogar** **: Dude, it's however you want to take it.**

 **eugenio4079** **: Thanks for the support**

 **Q'Fox** **: The dude really just didn't care. People are really apathetic to other peoples lives like that, man.**

 **Vinystark** **:RIGHT NOW.**

 **eugenio4079** **: Thanks for the support. And as for if Jaune shall ever return…**

 ***Starts tapping fingers together while laughing evilly***

 **That's for me to know, and** _ **you**_ **to find out.**

 **Undeadhero143: You wouldn't be the first one to say that. Maybe one day, friend.**

 **Maybe one day.**

 **Random Reviewer:...**

 **Uhmmm….**

 **Uhhh…**

 **No offense, but….. What? How? Just, like, How? How did you get fallout from this? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love fallout, but just…. How?**


	7. Back to Class

**Back to Class**

* * *

 **AN:** **Well, last chapter got very good reception. Im guessing it had something to do with actually showing the Demented for the first time, common and some special ones, but nevertheless I thank you all for the support.**

 **Also, JAUNE WRECKED SOME SHIT!**

 **Wasn't that just wonderful!? I mean, don't get me wrong, I like "Good! Strong! Jaune just as much as the next guy, but god damn, there's just something great about seeing goody-two-shoes Jauney becoming a homicidal amnesiac psychopath!**

 **I mean, I wouldn't be the first one to do that… I think? Maybe?**

 **Ah hell, who cares? You're all just here to see all of your favorite characters in a bright, easy-going world travel down the dark, eery path of insanity.**

 **But on another note, I'm disappointed. No one has yet to figure out the origins of the four main character's names. At least, they haven't mentioned it.**

 **This chapter, we dive back into Remnant to see how our favorite Huntresses have been faring since calling off the hunt of their Blonde Goofball.**

 **IMPORTANT**

 **For the next two weeks, there isn't going to be any work family and I are going down to Arizona for the winter break, and I'm going to be taking a break until then. See you all after that.**

 **And over five thousand views! Thanks guys!**

* * *

 **Two weeks since Jaune's disappearance.**

* * *

 **Weiss:**

"Reaching forward, I then thrust my hand into the creature's mouth before I ripped back, tearing out the pearl before it-"

 _ **Riiiiiiing!**_

Everyone, myself included, sighed in relief at the bell having had cut the professor's story short. Caught in a wrestling pose, he then straightened himself out before clearing his throat.

"Oh, looks like I mistimed that one. No matter, we can pick up where we left off tomorrow. Have a good day, everyone."

No one returned his goodbye as we all filed out of the classroom. I waited by the door until I saw the rest of my team walk through, Blake first with Yang not far behind and finally followed up by a still dejected Ruby.

"Thank Oum, I thought professor airbag would never stop." Yang sighed in relief as they all formed a line and walked down the hallway, other students passing by them on their way to their respective classes.

"He does tend to ramble on..." Blake added from behind one of her novels she pulled from somewhere on her person.

"Well, he could go on about worst things." I added. "I only pray that he doesn't decide to go into detail about his mustache like he did last month."

"Well at least now, if we ever decide to grow a mustache, we have some great pointers!" Yang said as we turned a corner. "Ain't that right, Rubes?"

We all looked at said crimsonette to see she hadn't heard her, or more likely anything from the past few minutes of walking. Instead, she just stared sadly at the ground between her shoes.

It wasn't very hard to guess what she was thinking about. Or, more accurately, _who._

"Ruby?" Yang tried to gain her younger sister's attention by waving her hand in front of the younger girl's face.

"Awuh?" The girl mumbled as she was brought back to the world around her to see three concerned gazes leveled at her.

"You okay, Ruby?" Blake asked her from my left. She seemed to realize that we had all seen her depressed state and tried to put up a fake smile. Needless to say, it wasn't very convincing.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" She said with forced joy and a bright expression, but we could all see through it easily. Realizing she'd been had, she dropped the act and slumped dejectedly, "Okay, not really."

"Ruby…" Yang tried to console her younger sister with a side hug, not even having to ask what was bothering her. "Come on… I'm sorry, but… There's not much else we can do. If Uncle Qrow, the Valean police force, and everyone else couldn't find him… What else are we supposed to do?"

Having sensed this wouldn't end well, we all stopped walking and instead found a isolated room to talk. I was going to tell Blake to go on ahead and let our teachers know we would be a few seconds late, but with just one look she got the message and nodded before heading out the door alone as she closed it behind her, giving the three of us some privacy to talk.

"Yang, I just c-can't give up on him like that." Ruby tried to keep herself together, but was beginning to fail. "H-He's my friend, _our friend_ , a-and I just-¨

She broke off there, putting her face into her hands and letting out a long breath as she tried to regain her composure while Yang rubbed small circles on her back, the concerned look not leaving her face as she did so.

¨Ruby, we aren't giving up on him.¨ I began as I stepped up to my partner and laid a hand on her shoulder, ¨Itś just like your sister said. We've run out of options. Thereś a difference between giving up and realizing there's nothing else we can do. Now, I want you to tell me which one we're doing.¨

Once she looked back up from her hands, she was silent as she seemed to ponder over the answer.

¨I know Iḿ not the best with with conveying emotions...¨ I rubbed the end of my sleeve. Oum, why was this always so difficult? ¨But I want you to know, Ruby… We're all here for you. And we are all more than willing to help you.¨

¨Yeah, so if you need to, you can just talk to one of us.¨ Yang agreed with me as she tried to shine the brightest smile she could to cheer up her sister. It worked to some extent, if the small smile of her own was anything to go by. A sad one, but a smile nonetheless.

"Thanks guys." Ruby told us as she brought the two of us into a hug with her.

"No problem, Sis." The blond told her.

Once we broke up from it, I cleared my throat to get their attention as I turned to the door to leave.

"I hate to ruin the mood,"

* * *

" _But we should probably return to our lessons."_

* * *

 _ **Küd:**_

I looked up from my notebook to see RyKnow standing over me with SpAg right next to him. Again, I held back a comment on her close proximity to him and instead opted to stand up, pocketing the small pad of paper. At least that wasn't in a short supply here. Quite the opposite, matter of fact.

" _Yeah, with the amount of kills you racked up at the yard yesterday, you're bound to have unlocked something."_ SpAg agreed with RyKnow's statement as she nodded her head.

" _And seeing as how I'm what you call a_ 'Negative One' _, I'm more prone to using offensive abilities?"_ I ask him for reassurance. He nodded his head in agreement.

" _Yup. You and SpAg are the only two Negative Ones in our group, with me being a Seeker and Gurrg being a Pacifist."_

Said Giant decided to get his chance to relax for the week over in a separate room connected to the one we were in now. He probably guessed we were going to be exercising our abilities.

" _Still kind of hard to connect a guy like_ that _to the term."_ I commented to myself. RyKnow chuckled, his long nose flapping slightly as he looked back at me.

" _Maybe we could give the guy some angel wings to put on his back?"_ He suggested.

A mental picture of Gurrg wearing some paper angel wings and a fake halo gave me a little chuckle as well when I realised something.

" _Wait a minute, I thought you said I would be a Negative One if I killed more people than I did Demented, and I've only killed two guys as opposed to the hundred-fifty-six from yesterday."_

" _Good observation, Küddy!"_ SpAg congratulated me with a pat on the back, " _But, looks like Mr. Know It All gets to sit back for a second as_ I _get to explain something!"_ She puffed her chest out in pride before turning to RyKnow and rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, " _U-uhm, that is, if he doesn't_ mind _."_

" _Mr. Know It All can sit back for this one."_ He said as she rustled the girl's hair playfully, most likely smiling under his mask. And it wasn't hard to picture the growing blush on SpAg's under hers.

" _Okay class!"_ SpAg cheered happily as she walked over to the opposite side of the room that was serving as our current resting spot, noticeably more cheery due to RyKnow's approval, " _Today, we're going to be learning about how to use our Negative One abilities."_

As she said this, RyKnow propped up what was essentially going to serve as our target for the day, a dead common Demented we killed just for the occasion. I was sure to leave as much as I could intact.

Wasn't my fault it made me cut it's arm off. Stupid bastard wouldn't stop trying to hit me.

" _So, you see that thing on the end of your arm? It's called a hand. Point that at the body."_ SpAg instructed, popping up beside me with her hands on her hips.

Doing as she instructed, I pointed my hand at the body, palm out and fingers curled in.

" _Okay, good form. Now, picture that Demented, just_ bolting _straight at you. It's wanting to rip your face off."_

I did as she said, mentally picturing this thing coming at me, it's body jerking horribly as it screamed in it's destroyed voice.

" _What the hell is this thing doing, Küd? Does it actually think it can kill you?_ This _stupid thing?"_

It was closer to me now, bearing down like a nightmare freight train. Something else began to build up in my mind, a picture. It was the same, and yet at the same time, it was different.

The creature was still coming at me, but this time it was much larger. More ferocious. And me, I was a cowering _wreck_. Standing there, holding some sort of sword and shield pathetically as it came at me. I wanted to run.

I wanted to _hide_.

" _You're_ The _Küd! How dare something like this try to attack you!?"_ SpAg's voice had come into the picture, the girl herself having been lost to the image. The Demented was as big as a tower now, and the sword and shield had grown heavy in my hands. I was too scared to run, rooted in place.

" _Are you just going to stand there and let this thing_ kill _you!? Show it who the_ real _monster is, Küd! Show it that it just fucked with the wrong guy!"_

The monster was now inches from my face, it's mouth a dark abyss as large as the moon while I was as small as a ant.

" _Show it what hell really looks like!"_

" **YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

I screamed at the top of my lungs as I clenched my hand into a fist, having moved all of the fear and pity into my hands and crushed it.

Causing the Demented to cave in on itself before exploding in a violent torrent of black intestines and bones.

" _That's M'boy!"_ RyKnow cheered from beside me as he clapped me on the back.

" _That was totally_ wicked!" SpAg said from beside me as she gave me a quick hug before pulling back and waving her arms around, " _You were like,_ "Sit on this, bitch!" _and then_ "BOOM, HEADSHOT!"

I admired my handiwork, the Demented now nothing more than a red stain on the wall as bits and pieces of it were scattered everywhere.

 _Red hair._

" _Again_?" I whispered under my breath to myself.

Why, of all things, does _red_ freakin' _hair_ pop up in my head all the time?

" _I'm not sure just yet."_ RyKnow said, thinking I was addressing the attack with my words. " _How do you feel right now?"_

I tightened both my hands into fists as I inspected them before looking back up.

" _Like I could rip a Behemoth a new one."_

" _Normally people are tired out after their first Dementia attack…"_ RyKnow thought aloud to himself as he scratched his chin.

" _Well, maybe it's that other thing?"_ SpAg suggested before turning to me, " _What'd you call it again?"_

" _Aura."_ The words left my mouth before I even had to think about it. The word brought a sense of energy to my mind as I spoke it. I can't remember much about it, besides from the fact it is some sort of energy source and it's name.

Amnesia could be a right pain in the ass when it wanted to be.

" _Anyways, you can try if you want, but don't over extend yourself. You could very well blow up your arm if you do it too much."_ RyKnow warned me. I nodded my head in understanding before turning back to the red stain on the wall.

" _So who's gonna clean that up?"_ I asked. I looked at the both of them.

Complete silence.

" _Uhhh, I'mgonnagokillsomeDementedforabit,havefunwithcleaningthatup,BYE!"_ SpAg blurted out before zipping to the door and opening it. She then turned back and waved.

" _Bye RyKnow!"_

 _ **SLAM!**_

RyKnow and I looked at each other before he started to chuckle nervously.

" _Eheh, he he, you see, I have some...papers… to fill out."_ He said as he began to shuffle away. " _Yeah...Papers….WAIT FOR ME, SPAG!"_

 _ **SLAM!**_

I stood in the empty room for a few seconds before looking back at the red stain and sighing.

" _Where in the hell am I supposed to find a sponge in this shit hole?"_

* * *

 **Oh no! That can't be all, can it!?**

 **Rest assured, dear reader. That is not the only thing that is happening in this chapter. You see, I have been for the past couple of weeks thinking up an idea for a series of omakes to use for this story.**

 **So, here you guys go, the first omake of MOH.**

* * *

 **Omake: Who can help us now!?**

* * *

 **Ozpin:**

"So you're telling me you've finally found something?" I asked as I folded my hands in front of me on top of my desk, seated in my chair within my office.

Qrow nodded in affirmative as he pulled something out of his pocket and began to examine it.

"I was searching through a warehouse in one of Mistral's cities red light districts when a contact of mine said he heard something similar to the profile of the Jaune kid. Some place called Stonewall."

He handed me what looked like a picture of an abandoned prison with stone walls and iron bars everywhere, as well as fog all around it. Looking closer, I saw something that looked akin to a dead body with someone crouching over it. No, not someone.

 _Something_.

"What did he say?" I asked him as I took a closer look at the creature, but wasn't able to make out much of it due to the poor quality of the picture except for it was humanoid and had pale skin with stitches all over it and was missing it's left arm.

"Said that he saw a hooded man with the kid over his shoulder walk into a room, and they never came out." He said as he pulled out his flask and took a drink. "He said he's never seen _anyone_ ever come out of that room, 'cept for the hooded man."

If he says hooded man, then I can only assume it was the same one as the one who abducted Jaune.

"Where exactly is this place located?" I asked him.

"Like I said, a warehouse in downtown Stonewall." Qrow reminded me.

"Very good then. I believe teams RWBY and JNPR will be glad to hear of this develo-"

I go to reach for my scroll sitting atop my desk, but was stopped as Qrow grabbed my wrist and shook his head.

"Ozpin, I hate to contradict you, but that really isn't a great idea."

I raised a lone brow at him.

"You would rather withhold this information from this young man's friends, two of which are your very nieces?"

He remained silence as he looked down at his lap in silence for a few seconds before looking into my eyes.

"Ozpin, my informant didn't just tell me what he saw. He told me about what happens to the people who go into that room. And let me tell you this…"

He leaned forward, inches from my face as he finished his sentence.

"You'd better pray that if you do find that kid, that he better not be breathing."

We stood there in silence as the information began to sink in.

"Are you absolutely sure there's nothing else we can do for mister Arc?" I ask, wanting to be completely sure. Qrow looks troubled as he mulls over something in his mind.

"Well….There is something…" He said aloud before shaking his head, "No, nevermind."

"Qrow." I said sharply from my seat. "If you have something that could help me find my lost student, I would be very much appreciative if you were to tell me."

He still looked uncertain as he scratched his chin and looked out the window behind me. His face began to take on a grave look.

"There is… another person who could possibly help us." He said after a while. "His methods are odd… And he is _very_ dangerous Ozpin. Just thinking of him sends a chill down my spine."

I continue to stare at Qrow as he seems to shiver slightly. If this person is strong enough to scare even Qrow, someone who has seen the worst of Remnant and shrugged it off...Then he must truly be awful.

But I must do it. I took an oath to protect my students, _all_ of my students, human or Faunus.

"I am ready to accept any sort of problems that arise." I said resolutely.

Qrow stared back at me before pulling out his flask and taking a swig, seeming to stall from answering. What could be so horrible about this man that is scaring him so?

"Alright." Qrow continued after he put away his drink. "But don't say I didn't warn you Ozpin. But, you've twisted my arm. If you really want to find this Arc kid, then there's only one man who can help him now."

…

…

…

" **AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA!"**

That was when a large, buff man wearing no shirt and camo pants with a camo hat burst through the elevator doors with a micraphone in his hand before he began to... _sing._

Your time is up, my time is now!

You can't see me, my time is now!

It's the franchise, boy I'm shinin' now!

You can't see me, my time is now!

* * *

SunWukongMogar: Let me be completely honest here, you and I both know that I would be an evil bastard if I never did that. It will be awhile, but it shall come eventually.

Sphinx360 :You wouldn't be the first one to say this, dear friend

ARSLOTHES: Thank you for the review.

Vinystark :Don't worry bro, I'm glad you liked it enough to review in a different language.

Undeadhero143:Maybe.

Guest: AH well. Thank youfor the support.


	8. on the hunt

**On The Hunt**

* * *

There's a Definite border now, making itself clear to me in a way it never had before. It was, at first, nothing more than a simple question to me, asked by RyKnow: What defines the difference between a madman and a monster?

" _I think he went on somewhere this way._ "

It was just a simple question, something he brought up one night when we were resting for a short moment. Whenever we weren't in some sort of conflict, we spent our free time talking.

" _Just find the bastard. Think's he can try and club me over the head like that.."_

Nothing of any some particular topic, just picking each other's brain was all. We discussed it for about a minute, but went on to another topic not long afterwards.

" _Don't worry, he and his friends are as good as dead, Spag."_

But I didn't. That question crawled under my skin and burrowed its way into my mind. What _did_ make the difference, exactly? Was it circumstance?

" _Just save the one with the bat for_ me."

Did it have something to do with restraint? Ignorance?

" _I call the one with the big axe. It would look much better in my hands than his, right Küd?"_

Supposedly, a mad man doesn't know that what he' or she is doing is considered wrong. That it's considered a horrible, atrocious act. Something that would eat away at the conscious.

" _Just so long as they're all dead._ " I sighed out as I unsheathed my knife, the sound of metal scraping against leather like music to my ears.

A monster just doesn't care.

" _I think they're up around this way."_ RyKnow said as he held a finger up to his mouth. " _Approach in silence."_

With a nod of acceptance, we all grew quiet as we all had our weapons in our hands, sure that everyone else had the blood lust eating away at their minds just as much as I did.

It's moments like these that really make me wonder just what spectrum I would fall under.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

* * *

"Blake, behind you!"

With shotgun blasts firing off in rapid succession, a young nevermore plummeted to the ground behind a certain Feline Faunus as she spared a glance behind her to Yang and nodded in thanks.

"Everybody, start getting to the top of the hill!" Ruby yelled to us as she started covering us as we began to fall back.

Blake and Yang ran past her, and once I got next to Ruby, I quickly turned and switched Myrtenaster's cartridge to ice right before I created a wall of ice to separate us from the Grimm long enough to get to the top of the hill safely.


	9. Notice

_**Reacting Against this Garbled Existence**_

* * *

So i'm not going to lie, I'm having very mixed emotions on writing right now.

Don't get me wrong; I still love writing. It's an amazing form of expression for one's ideas and beliefs, and it's still extremely fun to write with my friends on numerous other projects, while almost 80% of them will never see the light of day. It's just the one's that _**I**_ am currently doing are what's bugging me. I know that I've constantly been improving on my skills at writing (Completely evident in my older work, I might add), and for that I'm thankful.

But that's the thing, though. With all of this newfound experience and insight, i can't help but look back at my old work and just feel odd and, for the most part, disappointed. And I understand that it's not just me, that we all have that problem. I can guarantee you, for all of my fellow writers reading this, there's not one single person who hasn't looked back at something they wrote and thought ' _man, what the_ _ **fuck**_ _was I smoking?'_

If I had to be completely honest with you guys, the only thing I have right now that i'm still comfortable with is Doctor Krow, and that' simply because I just haven't _done_ all that much with the damn thing to mess it up yet, so no fret for you few readers who follow me for that work. MOH, on the other hand, feels far to cluttered and just sloppy compared to how I want it to feel. I started out wanting to make it just as dark and disturbed as I'm trying to make it now, and you can tell just by reading that that's what my original intentions were. But obviously, I was still a novice who just fell short, most of it feeling, to me, personally, far too rushed and cluttered to be considered effective. And Foreign Exchange, my current Self Insert and my most popular fic by far, has fared no better, unfortunately. I have literally dug myself a hole that seems about twenty feet deep from where i'm standing. Sure, it's worked better than most, and it's gotten some of my more creative ideas so far for building an individual universe of Remnant, but it's the execution that's extremely poor.

And don't even get me started on that fuckin' pole I held.

 ***Shudders***

But by no means do I want to just abandon these stories. I know they have merit to them. I still want them to be told, how they were _supposed_ to be told. But right now, when I look at the task of re-writing them, it just immediately makes me want to do something else. So, i was essentially stuck, wanting to get back into writing and at the same time not wanting to deal with the hardships of my current stories while simultaneously not wanting to lose them. At the end of the day, I sat there and thought to myself, 'just how in the hell am I going to fix this?'

Let me tell you, it didn't come like a snap of the fingers. I've come to the conclusion of this; Until i can find the motivation to tackle my current problem, I'm going to focus almost solely on a completely new self insert that can hopefully help me get rid of the ire I have for dealing with the new one.

Obviously, I'm still an inept fan of the show. In a life as dark and gritty as the one we live in, to see a world with people who are so bright and happy, even with their current situation, is reassuring in its own right. Which is for me, and I'm sure for many other people, the reason why there are so many stories with people entering into the world of Remnant and just getting to interact with these people, to see that there's still some happiness and reason within our lives. When everything else seems dark, it's nice to see a light every once in awhile.

But I personally find many of these fics far too optimistic. I realise, most of these people are around the average from 15 to 20 years old, and most of us haven't had the life experiences it takes to give us the real feel of life yet. Now, I'm not going to sit here and sound like some pompous ass as I say how ' _uhhhh, I've been through much more than any of you miscreants could ever imagine'_ , but I will say I have had my fair share of shit in my life. But, I digress. I'm eighteen years old, I have a job, I have clothes on my back, food in my stomach, and a few good friends to help me out through the day. And for all of that, i am eternally thankful, because I know there are people out there who don't have those things. And speaking from experience, it's not exactly fun.

But hell, that's enough of the sappy shit spewing for me. None of you are here to read about my life, or at least, it wasn't your first intention. So I'm sure your all wondering; _Okay, so he's mentioned a new SI to take his mind off of things. What is it, exactly?_

R.A.G.E is something I've always wanted to do, ever since I first typed out my first chapter of _Decay: Days Gone By_ as MadnessDH98 (Spoiler alert: It sucked). Like I mentioned earlier, there are so many of these self inserts where the person just magically falls into the laps of team RWBY and automatically strikes up a friendship with them. No offence to the writers who do this, but what are the actual chances of that? Now I understand, if you make a fic without including the characters, the masses aren't going to come pouring in to read your work. But if I am to be frank, I pulled those tricks to bring in viewers and get more popular on Foreign Exchange, and I'm still annoyed with myself for having done that. So, to warn you readers, it won't be immediate team RWBY. And another extremely annoying thing (for me, anyways) that I'm going to skip is the process of the SI entering Remnant, but he will be of this world, seeing as how it's supposed to be… Well, you know.

Here's where the main point comes in, though. You see, it's quite obvious just how different of places Earth and Remnant are, and one of those differences is the physical manifestation of one's soul, otherwise called 'aura'. In every single story that i've read on this website with a person entering another universe, and not just even for RWBY, but other genres as well, everyone just assumes it would transfer over to our body easily and we could be along our merry way.

My question is this, though: _What if it didn't?_

What if the installment of aura onto a foreign body had a negative effect? For all we know, the bodies of Remnant could have specific designs in them just for the housing of this energy. A similar comparison could say you have a triple A and a double A battery. Both are designed to hold their own amount of energy for their own specific purposes. But say if you were to try and use a triple A to use for, let's say a TV remote when it needs double AA's. Not only would they not fit, they could possibly need the energy from the double A in order to sustain it.

And seeing as how it wasn't designed for this purpose… It begins to melt down over time.

So while yes, this is indeed a story of Remnant, it's not just that. No, dear readers, this is something more. This is a story of isolation even when you're surrounded by others, and being put into a situation where, even though it's not fair, and even though they didn't ask for it, the character must find a way to deal with the hand they've been dealt… Before it ultimately becomes their undoing.

* * *

 _As you are reading this, the first chapter is already under work and I will hopefully have the first chapter done by the end of this week, if I work diligently enough. Like I said, this is to be of help, so if this becomes something that I feel like I_ have _to do, instead of something I want to do, it would begin to defeat the whole purpose._

 _Until then, my friends._

 _-Triple T_


End file.
